Valuation is the process used to determine how much a business or any other asset is worth. Valuing companies is important because, in corporate finance as in our daily lives, you never want to pay more for something than it’s worth. Fair market value (FMV) thus determines the structure of a mergers and acquisitions (M&A) deal, pricing of shares of a company in an initial public offering, or how much equity in a startup is worth.

Because accurate valuation requires projecting future income generated by the company or asset in question, however, this process can be challenging and unavoidably involves uncertainty. It is particularly difficult when attempting to determine the value of a startup, which by definition lacks the track record of financial statements of more established companies.

Traditional methods of valuing companies use classic discounted cash flow analysis to build a simple model of future revenues and determine their present value based on the time value of money. More sophisticated valuation methodologies use statistical techniques such as linear regression analysis and/or simulations using the Monte Carlo method to better incorporate sources of risk and uncertainty.

Any CFO or CEO of a company needs a basic knowledge of the principles of valuation in order to understand what their company is worth. This background is essential to making decisions between different corporate financing strategies, such as taking on debt versus selling equity shares, going public, or being acquired. A strong understanding of valuation is especially critical for startup founders, who must be able to negotiate with potential angel investors or venture capital funds over the likely future worth of a company that may not yet have any sales.

Careers in finance require more than a familiarity with the principles of valuation - they require expertise. Valuing companies and assets is a central responsibility of the financial analysts employed by investment banks, private equity firms, hedge funds, and other financial institutions, where millions or even billions of dollars can be at stake depending on the accuracy of a valuation. As such, these experts often have masters of business administration (MBA) degrees, and are highly compensated; according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, analysts in securities and other financial investment activities received a median salary of $101,410 in 2018.

Certainly. Coursera offers courses and Specializations covering the basics of valuation as well as more advanced techniques, as well as courses geared towards the specific context of startup valuations. These courses are offered by top-ranked universities and business schools, including the University of Pennsylvania, Duke University, and the University of Michigan, and provide the same learning experience as on-campus students at a significantly lower cost. You don’t need to be an expert in valuation (yet) to understand that that combination is quite a compelling value proposition.